The release of Blacklight's double CD, Book of Days, looks like business as usual. The relaxed tour schedule showcases Bombardiers keyboard ace Tony Mancuso along as a guest, and a revolutionary new set design. No one can predict what happens next: the CD goes multi-platinum, generating the need for a very different kind of tour.

At first, everything seems fine. It takes a while before guitarist JP Kinkaid realises something very dark is going on: a string of deaths, following Blacklight show nights.

Things come to a head when a longtime member of Blacklight’s extended touring family is killed. At the band's request, Homicide detective Patrick Ormand investigates, but uncovering the reason behind the deaths may be a lot easier than healing the wounds those deaths have caused.

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The release of Blacklight's double CD, Book of Days, looks like business as usual. The relaxed tour schedule showcases Bombardiers keyboard ace Tony Mancuso along as a guest, and a revolutionary new set design. No one can predict what happens next: the CD goes multi-platinum, generating the need for a very different kind of tour.

At first, everything seems fine. It takes a while before guitarist JP Kinkaid realises something very dark is going on: a string of deaths, following Blacklight show nights.

Things come to a head when a longtime member of Blacklight’s extended touring family is killed. At the band's request, Homicide detective Patrick Ormand investigates, but uncovering the reason behind the deaths may be a lot easier than healing the wounds those deaths have caused.

As per usual for Deborah Grabien's books, the central mystery is an interesting and compelling one. The setting, that of the inner workings, behind the scenes of a supergroup's enormously successful tour, is seamlessly part of the characters experiences. While Grabien's skill at composing a novel is head and shoulders above many others, one aspect at which she excels is crafting brilliant characters who take on lives of their own. Having interacted virtually with one of these characters - at Bree Kinkaid's food blog [...] - at one point while reading Book of Days, when Bree had a particular issue crop up, my first thought was, "Oh, I should remember to send her a recipe for (something that would address the problem, that I won't specify in this review due to spoilers)". And then I remembered that Bree is a fictional character. So it is not merely the narrator, J.P. Kinkaid, who arrives at such a living expression, but many of the supporting characters as well.

Remember playing air guitar along with your favorite band? Sure you do. In Deborah Grabien's Book of Days (J.P. Kinkaid #5) your air guitar goes on a wild ride of an international blockbuster tour with superband Blacklight. Except crew members keep turning up dead....

J.P. Kinkaid remains a favorite series for various reasons.

* Reading these books is like a backstage pass. On one hand I bemoan that I can't really hear Blacklight, but then, I absolutely know what Liplock and Remember Me sound like. I can see the staging of the Book of Days tour. Honestly any rendition would be second best. I cannot think of any other books where specific guitars make credible characters. Deborah's own musicianship and background show in her writing.

* J.P. is an incredibly sexy, sympathetic character who maybe not coincidentally reminds me of my husband (who only lacks Blacklight and the health issues.) The first person narration takes you into his mind, reminding us that superstars are people first, with ego and talent of course, but also insecurities and foibles. The secondary characters are equally well drawn, not your cardboard celebrity magazine rockers.

* I appreciate from my own experience how Ms Grabien weaves chronic illness into a full "normal" life in these tales.

If you haven't already discovered Grabien's JP Kinkaid series, you're in for a treat. The fifth offering in the chronicles of Blacklight's guitarist, Book of Days is a fantastic read. Since this is the fifth in the series, I'm going to give you five reasons why you should read these books: